Some mornings you just know there is a Divine presence in your life. Like this morning. I noted earlier today in Facebook how fantastic it was heading off to work today. Watching the pheasant running across a yard, seeing the deer and observing the sundogs. Thought I’d share some of the images. Also, check up on 2010:Begin Again and pondering some song lyrics.
2010: Begin Again - On the right path
It’s just over a month into the New Year and I’m quite happy with how it’s going. If you’ve been following along, you know ‘2010: Begin Again’ is my theme for this year. And it’s rolling out in positive fashion.
Three big steps spiritually for me:
1. A Year to Live: Taking a study with my friend, Kathy, under the guidance of Pat. We had our first session and I know I’m going to love this coming year. It’s once a month for year. It includes some reading, some meditation and lots of thinking. I would have to say it’s already impacting my perceptions.
2. You Were Born Rich mastermind group: Led by my friend and fellow Toastmaster, Herv Nadeau, this is a once-a-week study into the book by Bob Proctor. Great insights that get you thinking about how you prioritize your life.
3. The Quest: Based on a wonderful book, and accompanying study guide, this really gets into the spiritual side of life. I’m working through the study with a new good friend, Darren Hutchison. Bouncing ideas off each other and sharing experiences along the path of life is good for the soul. We’re meeting every other Saturday at local coffee shops.
My spiritual quest has also led to my meeting online and by phone with a wonderful woman, Rev. Pat Ball, with Unity Church. She’s a strong New Thought minister based in Ontario and I’m speaking with her about starting a Unity study group in Lethbridge. There aren’t any New Thought centres here, and it’s an approach to spirituality that is so right for the times . . . even it was started in the later 1800s! The rest of the world is finally catching up thanks to the teachings of people like Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and Eckart Tolle.
As to health . . . mentally I’m feeling great. Physically, I discovered the nurse was right when she said the pounds I lost in prep for the colonoscopy would come back almost immediately. They did. That’s why I say not to refer to it as losing weight. When you lose something, what do you do? You look for it to get it back. So don’t lose weight, shed pounds instead. After the return of the lost weight, I turned around and removed four pounds, so I’m ahead and looking forward to more change.
Oh, What a Glorious Morning!
Nope. Those aren’t the song lyrics I’ll be contemplating later. But Rogers and Hammerstein sure had it right with that song from Oklahoma! Heading off to work on Monday isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. And I must be honest and say it’s not the greatest for me, either. But this morning was pretty spectacular.
Brisk. No doubt about it. But not biting cold. Scrapped off the windshield, jumped in and away we go. Three houses down, we see a female pheasant dashing across a yard. Turn the corner and there’s a small herd of deer grazing on a lawn. Drive around the curve and there are two magnificent sun dogs. It was truly a glorious morning that simply led into a beautiful day. Sun shining, little breeze and the forecast snow flurries failed to materialize.
It doesn’t get much better than that in southern Alberta in early February.
I Never Felt More Like Singing’ the Blues
Earlier I posted a message about the incredible Shawna Romolliwa.
Shawna and I worked together at the college for a while. In addition to her alluring physical presence (OK, she’s REALLY hot, but it’s not PC to say that), and her incredible intelligence (she’s pursuing her Masters degree right now), Shawna is blessed with a wonderful talent for singing. I remember being entranced at a house concert she did for some friends a few years ago. The lady has style and personality to burn. You see her, you remember her.
She and her gorgeous sister Karen, (excellent gene pool in that family; their brother is a model. They have like Jordache genes or something.), are also backup singers for popular Lethbridge-based band Hippodrome.
So, on Friday, Feb. 5, Shawna debuted with her new blues band at The Slice in Lethbridge. And it was quite simply amazing. Sorry if you missed it, but you’ll have a chance to her them again. Oh, the name of the band is Romolliwa.
One of the songs that really rocked the place was Hound Dog. Not the wimpy Elvis Presley version. Not the earlier raunchy Big Mama Thorton version. Nope. This was Shawna doing a Rita Chiarelli version. But with Shawna personality. Simply amazing and unforgettable.
But it did get me thinking about lyrics and different versions of songs. Some people take a tune and just give it their own spin. That’s cool. Sometimes lyrics are changed for other not-so-cool reasons. Hound Dog is a classic example.
A long time ago, right here in this very galaxy, things were very black and white when it came to music. Fantastic African-American artists would produce incredible music that was rarely heard by a white audience. What a loss! Instead, white-bread versions would be recorded and pawned off to adoring teenybopper fans. Pat Boone recorded a number of these. Elvis did Hound Dog, originally recorded by Big Mama Thorton four years earlier. It was determined to be too suggestive for a white audience, I guess, because the tune remained while the lyrics and intent were butchered.
Here are the lyrics sung by Elvis:
Hound Dog
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
Well they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah they said you was high-classed
Well, that was just a lie
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
Repeat several times
That’s it. What does it mean? Elvis singing to a buddy? Surely not a girl. You got me. But it passed the grade as being suitable for white teens. Now, here are the lyrics as sung four years earlier by Big Mama Thorton.
Hound Dog
(Chorus) You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Been snoopin' round my door
You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Been snoopin' round my door
You can wag your tail
But I ain't gonna feed you no more
You told me you was high class
I could see through that
You told me you was high class
I could see through that
And baby I know
You ain't no real cool cat
(Chorus)
You made me feel so blue
You made me weep and moan
You made me feel so blue
You made me weep and moan
'Cause I'm looking for a woman
All your lookin' for is a home
(Chorus)
It doesn’t take much to figure out what Big Mama is talking about. I guess it was considered a little too raunchy at the time. But that’s a life experience and that’s the blues.
And trust me, Shawna Romolliwa delivers. Never really listened to the blues? Shawna will get you excited about it. Hear and you’ll agree, “I never felt more like singing the blues.” (Thanks Marty Robbins.)
Photos: Two views of this morning's sun dogs. A bit of a cheat on the deer. This was right next to our driveway on Saturday. But it was part of the same herd down the street this morning. And, of course, Shawna Romolliwa, right, along with Jann Willetts, who also sings with the band. They are awesome.
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